Heel for shoes



June 6, 1939. J. BURGER 2,151,452

y i HEEL. FOR sHoEs Filed Nov. 3o, 1937 2 sheets-sheet 1 1105911: Barga;

INVENTOR w. lwm

AT ORNEY J. BURGER HEEL FOR SHOES Ju-ne- 6,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nqv. 30, 1937 Josep/z wfger INVENTOR ATT RNEY Patented June 6, 1939 gPATlzlvi oFFxeE t' e United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, Y Jl., a. corporation of New Jersey 'i rAppliationnovember 3o, 1937, serial No. 177,213

6 Claims.

This invention 4relates to the manufacture of shoes and'is illustrated herein as embodied in an improved heel. v y Heretofore cork heels have been made by block- H ring them 'out of cork composition. Such heels,

however, have little strength and accordingly havebeen confined to Cuban heels of the low and heavy type. Being composed of adhesively secured granules of cork rthe heel material does not 'lb tool Well nor does it hold nails or screws effectively. Consequently, solid cork composition heels "are usually attached to their shoe uppers and have their toplifts attachedby glue or other suitable adhesives with the' result that the hee-ls 15 `frequently break away from their shoe uppers or lose'Y their toplifts. t v l It lis an object of the` present invention to provide heels having the desirable appearance characteristics of cork composition Without the definite limitations and objections above mentioned. In particularit is desired to provide .,cork heels of any height or'shapewhich have f the strength of the usual wood heel and which 'may be permanently secured to shoes and have 525 their toplifts fastened to them by nails orv screws inaccordance with the conventional practice.

- `With the above object in View, and Vin accordance with a feature of the present invention,

there is provided a heel member comprising a rigid block, and a exible cover which is shaped and secured to said block, the exible cover consisting of a thin lamination of cork composition the outer face of which is made up of granules of cork composition, and the inner face of which is $5 secured adhesively to a backing material which,

in turn, is secured to the block.

' Thevarious features of the invention will be understood and appreciated from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view showingfthe outer face ofthe fiat cork composition cover before its application to the heel;

f Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the cover in the process of being produced by a novel method of manufacture; t

Fig. 3 shows in perspective a Cuban heel to which the cover has been applied;

50, f Fig. 4 is a section on line IV--IV of Fig. 3; and

' Fig. 5 rshows rthe lower rear portion of the covered heel, partly in section and with part of the cover broken' away, in the process of having its toplift nished to match the outer'face of the m5k cover.

In the several views, the composition cork heel cover is designated 5.

Fig. 2 illustrates 'one method of making up the material for these heel covers in which fabric layers 6, of cotton drill, muslin or the like, are 5 adhesively secured to opposite faces of a sheet 5a, of composition cork, which is thenv split through the center to form two separate layers of the cork 5, backed by layers of fabric 6.

In practice, the intermediate layer 50., may be 10 standard cork sheet of the minimum thickness, approximately 1/32 of an inch. While cork composition manufacturers have found it impracticable to split such layers, the present invention makes this possible because of the reinforcement afforded by the backing layers t. vCork layers as thin as l@ of an inch, produced by such splitting of doubly reinforced standard cork sheeting are thin enough to conform and fit the curvature of full height and full fashioned heels 20 and at the same time are strong enough to form permanent covers which will stand the usual heel wear. The elasticity of the cork thus bonded to the fabric, enables the compound material to bend andstretch sufhciently to closely fit the full heel 25 shape without bulging ror breaking and to retain the form givenit under all usual wear conditions .throughout the life of the heel. y I

InFig. 3, ther cover is Vshown secured over a heel block l, just as any ordinary Wood heel cover, except that instead of the usual lap joint at the breast of the heel, the meeting edges of the cover are brought together in a simple butt joint 8. This is made possible because of the flexible elastic character of the composite cork and back 35 ing layers enabling the edges to meet and in effect join together on line 8, the granules of the composition corkso merging as to render this line practically invisible. The fabric backing should be of a non-fraying character, so that no traces of the backing material will show at this joint. Unwoven as Well as Woven fabric may be employed. The adhesive used in securing the cover enables the latter to be molded as required to t the heel block and to smoothly unite the butted edges. The edges of the cover at the heel seat and top lift ends are folded inwardly over the heel seat and top lift ends of the block after the manner indicated at 9, the material permitting this without cracking or breaking.

Top lifts of leather, composition felt or other material may be used and such top lifts may be finished to in effect merge with the cork cover.

In Figs. 3 and 5 a top lift of leather or other material is shown at I0, which has been subjected to the Iaction of a rotary edge iron Il, having a mottled surface I2, in simulation of the granular composition of the cork layer. This roll impresses or embosses the edge of the top lift, giving it a mottled surface I3, corresponding to some extent With the general mottled appearance of the cork. This top lift edge may be inked, dyed or otherwise colored in one or more shades to more or less match the different shadings of the composition cork. If desired, the face of the edge iron may be Wide enouglrtor extend beyond the edge of the top lift and over the surface of the cover to effect a more complete merger of top lift and cork cover.

The splitting of the intermediate cork sheeting between the outer layers of backing material pro,- vides smooth clean fresh cork surfaces highly desirable for heel cover purposes. surfaces of the cork are bright and clean and readily take any finishes, dyes or coloring material that may be considered desirable.

The heel constructed as described, has the general appearance of a solid cork heel, Without the disadvantages.' It may be handled, nished and fastened the same as ordinary covered wood heels. Translucent shades may be applied through which the granules of the ground cork composition will appear and this may be left with a at nish or be given any desired sheen effect.

The cork and backing materials may be secured together With rubber adhesives after the manner employed for backing shoe heel and shoe upper materials. The application of backing material to both faces of the sheeting as at Fig. 2, very materially simplifies the splitting of the cork to the desired thinness as the reinforcement thus added so strengthens the composition cork that it will not break or tear under such ne splitting operations. These operations may be carried further by building up additional alternate layers of cork and backing material With iinal layers of backing material at the top and bottom of the laminations so that with splitting of the intermediate cork sheets, there Will be produced in addition to the single layers of cork and backing material at top and bottom, an intermediate layer or layers of backing material with attached layers of cork at opposite faces of the same. Such double faced cork materials are particularly desirable for use for shoe uppers, handbags and These fresh cut other articles requiring a lining as Well as a facing. The backed composition cork sheeting reduced to approximately 17g.; inch thickness as illustrated in Fig. 2 is strong enough to be used for heel covers Without binding or other reinforcement and yet it is sufciently flexible to bend sharply over the edges of the heel block Without cracking or breaking.

The heel cover and the process of making the same are claimed in a divisional application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 225,164, iiled August 16, 1938.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe heel, comprising a fully shaped heel block and a cover of thin composition cork shaped and secured over said heel block and having opposite edges of the same butt jointed at the breast of the heel to form a substantially continuous single thickness cover entirely over the heel.

2. A shoe heel, comprising a heel block of the full height and shape of the heel and a cover of thin composition cork about the same and having edges meeting in a butt joint at approximately the center of the heel breast.

3. A heel for a shoe comprising a rigid block and a ilexible cover which is shaped and secured to the block, said cover consisting of thin cork composition the exposed surface of which is smooth and of granular appearance and the inner face of which is secured to a backing material.

4. A heel member comprising a rigid block and a ilexible cover which is shaped and secured to said block, said flexible cover consisting of a thin lamination of cork composition one face of Which is made up of smooth granules of said composition cork and the other face of which is secured adhesively to a backing material.

5. A shoe heel comprising a fully shaped heel block and a flexible cover of thin cork composition shaped and secured to said heel block and having its opposite edges joined together to form a substantially continuous cover about the entire heel.

6, A heel vfor a shoe comprising a rigid block and a ilexible cover Which is shaped and secured to the block, said cover consisting ofthin cork composition the exposed surface of which is of granular appearance and the inner face of which is secured to a backing material.

JOSEPH BURGER. 

